Analysis of Epitaph [To This Grave Is Committed]

James Beattie 1735 (Laurencekirk) – 1803 (Aberdeen)



I was a friend, On this sad stone a pious look bestow,
Nor uninstructed read this tale of woe;
And while the sigh of sorrow heaves thy breast,
Let each rebellious murmur be supprest;
Heaven's hidden ways to trace, for us, how vain!
Heaven's wise decrees, how impious, to arraign!
Pure from the stains of a polluted age,
In early bloom of life, they left the stage:
Not doom'd in lingering woe to waste their breath
One moment snatch'd Them from the power of Death:
They liv'd united, and united died;
Happy the friends, whom Death cannot divi
O man, to thee, to all.


Scheme AABACCDDEEFGH
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111010101 1111111 0101110111 110101011 10101111111 101011010101 1101100101 0101111101 11010011111 11011101011 1101000101 1001111010 111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 573
Words 106
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 13
Lines Amount 13
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 437
Words per stanza (avg) 104
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
92

James Beattie

James Scott Beattie is an English footballer who is a striker who plays for and manages Accrington Stanley. more…

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